US Supreme Court blocks order requiring reinstatement of federal workers

The Supreme Court in Washington blocked the reinstatement order (Alamy/PA)

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked an order for the Trump administration to return to work thousands of federal employees who were let go in mass sackings aimed at dramatically downsizing the federal government.

The justices acted in the administration’s emergency appeal of a ruling by a federal judge in California ordering that 16,000 probationary employees be reinstated while a lawsuit plays out because their sackings did not follow federal law.